Intent and Action: Assessment for Learning and Formative Assessment

I continue to work on my understanding of formative assessment and actionable feedback. I’ve been thinking of formative assessment as assessment for learning. I’ve been saying formative assessment requires feedback that causes action.

In the video below, Dylan Wiliam discusses the subtle difference between assessment for learning and formative assessment.

From the video:Formative assessment – assessment that actually shapes learning.

“In order to engage in high-quality assessment, teachers need to first identify specific learning targets and then to know whether the targets are asking students to demonstrate their knowledge, reasoning skills, performance skills, or ability to create a quality product.

“The teacher must also understand what it will take for students to become masters of the learning targets.

It is not enough that the teacher knows where students are headed; the students must also know where they are headed, and both the teacher and the students must be moving in the same direction.” (Conzemius, O’Neill, 66 pag.)

If we are to continue to learn and improve, how might we create actionable experiences that form learning?